Carers Direct Ltd Support Service
31 James Street Helensburgh G84 8AS
Telephone: 01436 671 389
Type of inspection: Unannounced
Completed on: 23 January 2019
Service provided by: Service provider number: Carers Direct Limited SP2004004444
Service no: CS2004076349 Inspection report
About the service
The Care Inspectorate regulates care services in Scotland. Information about all care services is available on our website at www.careinspectorate.com
The service was previously registered with the Care Commission and transferred its registration to the Care Inspectorate on 1 Aprill 2011.
Carers Direct Limited provides a Care at Home service to adults and older people living in their own homes. The main company office is located in Helensburgh, with smaller offices in Oban and ampbelC town. The service operates mainly within Argyll and Bute including the areas of Helensburgh, Oban, Campbeltown, Taynuilt, Dalmally and Inveraray. Services are also provided in some areas of West Dunbartonshire.
The service aims to:
"deliver care and support services that assist people with a range of needs to live at home and participate in the community as independently as possible."
At the time of the inspection, 141 people were using the service.
What people told us
Prior to visiting the service, we sent 40 Care Inspectorate questionnaires to people using the service and their relatives, 15 of which were returned completed. During the inspection we spoke with 20 people using the service and three relatives. Some of the comments we received included:
"Very happy, staff are lovely people." "Always smiling. Encourage me to eat." "They are all very good and come at regular times." "Service is great, same staff, on time." "No complaints. Excellent. Very happy." "Very satisfied with the service and staff."
Self assessment
The service was not asked to complete a self-assessment in advance of the inspection.
From this inspection we graded this service as:
Quality of care and support 4 - Good Quality of staffing not assessed Quality of management and leadership 4 - Good
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What the service does well
People experienced good care and support provided by compassionate and attentive staff. The positive feedback we received reflected people's views of a caring service that enabled them to live as independently as possible in their own homes. One person told us "I'm delighted with the service." Other positive comments included: "we're really happy with the girls" and "very satisfied with the service and staff."
People were cared for sensitively by staff who anticipated issues and responded appropriately. People commented on the supportive relationships they had with staff, their confidence in staffs' knowledge and abilities, and the benefits this brought. We observed staff being respectful and patient during support visits, and staffs good use of humour was appreciated by many. One person described staff as "intelligent, jolly, and very good."
A collaborative approach to service delivery was enhanced by good communication between staff and other professionals. An example of this was the use of 'communication diaries' in people's homes which assisted with appropriate information sharing between staff, families, and District Nursing services. This led to more tailored support to meet individualised need and achieve improved health outcomes.
Detailed information provided to new and prospective clients enabled people to make an informed choice about their care and support. People knew who to contact with any queries or concerns, which helped foster people's views of a responsive service.
Commitment to people's participation and involvement in service improvement was evident. Annual satisfaction questionnaires enabled management to seek the views of those using the service. Issues identified were responded to, which demonstrated people's opinions were respected and valued.
The management team had worked hard to develop new care plan documentation to improve person-led care planning. New plans were being rolled out to all people using the service, and we look forward to seeing further progress at the next inspection.
What the service could do better
It was not clear that regular reviews were happening for everyone using the service. The existing review-tracking system identified gaps orf some people, but we could not see how these had been addressed. Reviews should take place at least once every six months in line with current regulations and be clearly documented.
Review records sampled could be more outcome-focused, and better demonstrate how people were involved in assessing and determining their care and support. Similarly, completed risk assessments would benefit from being individualised, reflecting people's strengths and providing clear detail of support required to minimise identified risk. These should be reviewed in line with six-monthly care reviews.
We noted that service agreements were not completed for a number of people accessing support. Clearly defined written agreements would further assist people to make an informed choice about the service they received, ensuring their rights were respected and upheld.
It was recommended at the last inspection that best practice guidelines for the recruitment and selection of staff should be followed. Sampled recruitment records highlighted that essential checks, including references, could be more complete. This recommendation has been repeated (See recommendation 1).
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Records should demonstrate how safer recruitment processes were followed to ensure potential staff have the right skills and values for their role.
Further improvement of the service's operational development plan could be achieved by including detail of how people's feedback led to change. It would benefit from identifying the aim of improvements, how achieved, timescales required, and the impact of changes made. This would demonstrate how people have been actively and meaningfully involved in ongoing service development.
Requirements Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 1
1. The provider should ensure it operates in line with all applicable legal requirements and best practice guidelines around the recruitment and selection of its staff.
This ensures care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care standards which state that: I am confident that people who support and care for me have been appropriately and safely recruited (HSCS 4.24)
Complaints
There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are published at www.careinspectorate.com.
Inspection and grading history
Date Type Gradings 30 Nov 2017 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good Environment Not assessed Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - Good
12 Oct 2016 Announced (short Care and support 4 - Good notice) Environment Not assessed Staffing 3 - Adequate Management and leadership Not assessed
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Date Type Gradings 8 Oct 2015 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment Not assessed Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 5 - Very good
4 Mar 2015 Unannounced Care and support 6 - Excellent Environment Not assessed Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership 6 - Excellent
31 Mar 2014 Unannounced Care and support 6 - Excellent Environment Not assessed Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership 6 - Excellent
14 Feb 2013 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment Not assessed Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 6 - Excellent
20 May 2010 Announced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment Not assessed Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership Not assessed
29 May 2009 Announced Care and support 4 - Good Environment Not assessed Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - Good
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To find out more
This inspection report is published by the Care Inspectorate. You can download this report and others from our website.
Care services in Scotland cannot operate unless they are registered with the Care Inspectorate. We inspect, award grades and help services to improve. We also investigate complaints about care services and can take action when things aren't good enough.
Please get in touch with us if you would like more information or have any concerns about a care service.
You can also read more about our work online at www.careinspectorate.com
Contact us
Care Inspectorate Compass House 11 Riverside Drive Dundee DD1 4NY
0345 600 9527
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Other languages and formats
This report is available in other languages and formats on request.
Tha am foillseachadh seo ri fhaighinn ann an cruthannan is cànain eile ma nithear iarrtas.
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